Missouri dominates Long Beach State in Advocare Invitational

The Advocare Invitational gave the Missouri men’s basketball team the perfect opportunity to respond to the adversity that has hit the program in the last week.

A week that included a loss at Utah, a five-point win over Division II Emporia State and the loss of preseason All-American Michael Porter Jr., likely for the season.

The result of Missouri's first-round game was a dominating 95-58 win over Long Beach State. Graduate transfer Kassius Robertson, speaking in a phone interview at the Wide World of Sports Complex, said he was happy with the way the Tigers responded.

They left no doubt and never trailed against the 49ers.

“We were looking for this type of response against Emporia State. We didn’t get it, but we came out of there with the win,” Robertson said. “This is the response we needed for the last two shaky games. I’m glad we came out here and set the tone early.”

All summer and fall, the talk around town was about Porter leading the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament, an event they haven’t been in since 2013.

With Porter likely done for the season after having back surgery, younger brother Jontay Porter stepped up in a big way. The 6-foot-10 freshman, who turned 18 on Nov. 15, finished with a career-high 15 points, five rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

He was 6 of 9 from the field, 2 of 3 from deep and added one assist.

“He is a really special talent,” Robertson said. “He shot the ball really well tonight. We got him some good looks, and he was banging down low, too. He had an all-around good game.”

But Porter wasn’t the only person Robertson, who finished with 13 points and three rebounds, raved about after the game.

He thought Jordan Geist, who led the Tigers with 16 points, played the best game he’s seen him play.

“Aside from the scoring — he did a great job scoring, of course — but he was really a floor general out there. He did a great job with the press, pushed the ball in transition and he set the tone on defense, as well,” Robertson said. “He just looked really poised with the ball and confident on the court.”

Porter and Geist set the tone for a bench that scored 48 of Missouri’s 95 points. Cullen VanLeer, who also came off the bench, finished with 11 points and was one of five Missouri players to score in double figures. Freshman Blake Harris joined that group with 11 points.

The result was a statement performance that showed the Tigers can get production from a variety of players on any night.

“We are a really deep team, a really talented team. We just have to realize that,” Robertson said. “Everybody chipped in, and we showed teams how deep we really are, which we are going to need throughout the whole season, not just this tournament.”

Nine players played at least 16 minutes Thursday. Harris, who started at point guard for the first time this season, played 21 minutes and gave the Tigers a needed spark.

Harris not only shot 4 of 7 and made each of his three free throws, but he tallied nine assists and turned the ball over just once.

“He did a really good job facilitating and not turning the ball over,” Robertson said.

Where Missouri really turned the tide from its previous two games was on the defensive end.

The Tigers held the 49ers to just 35 percent shooting and 24 percent from deep. They forced the 49ers into 19 turnovers and scored 17 points off of those turnovers.

“We were playing really good defense. We knew our matchups and our opponent's tendencies really well. We prepared really well for the game,” Robertson said. “We set the tone on defense first and got some good looks in transition. Our good looks weren’t drooping against Emporia State, but they started dropping a little more tonight.”

Missouri shot 52 percent from the field and 42 percent on 3-pointers after shooting 2 of 20 against Emporia State.

The Tigers' first basket was as easy as they come. Senior Jordan Barnett received the ball in the right corner and drove for a two-handed slam. Missouri took the lead on that dunk less than two minutes into the game and never let go.

Offensively, Missouri benefited from improved ball movement in the halfcourt. It had 22 assists compared to 11 against Emporia State.

One of those assists, a pass from from Kevin Puryear, set up a Geist 3-pointer with 13:17 on the clock in the first half. The Geist basket gave Missouri its first double-digit lead, 13-2.

The lead never dropped to single digits again. Missouri lead 43-21 at halftime and expanded that lead to as many as 38 in the second half.

Missouri cruised the rest of the way and will play St. John's at 10 a.m. CT Friday.

Friday will be the Tigers' first attempt at back-to-back games this season. It’s a challenge Robertson said will be important when he thinks about the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

For now, though, he is just looking for the Tigers to carry the momentum from Thursday’s game.

“We are just going to try and ride this wave we are on right now,” Robertson said.

crobinson@columbiatribune.com573-815-1781

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